I remember about 10 years ago we had a point system for AR. Exactly what you mentioned you witnessed with a young reader would frequently be the case at our school as well. Eventually a decision was made that indvidual teachers could do it if they chose to within their classes, but that it would no longer be school wide. Another idea could be for teachers to set weekly or monthly goals for each student. That way students are not competing against each other, but they are competing against themselves striving to make their goal. My son was a struggling reader, and anything public regarding reading created strife for him...as a teacher and a mom I can understand that.

We started something similar to AR at BE this year. Students earn points for reading different books. It doesn't matter if it is a book for homework, a book at school or a book on the iPad. Some of... more

Your idea for teachers setting weekly or monthly goals for students is great. Each student would be working towards their own goal and this would be very motivating yet they would not be pressured to ... more

I also like the idea of setting goals for each child individually. This way they are working against themselves and they aren't worried about who has the most points and stressing over it. I remember ... more

That would be awesome to have a system online. I have thought about trying to start something in my room, because my kids are so excited about earning points and are reading a lot for the new reading ... more